A database may be configured to store data in accordance with a database schema. For example, in a graph database, data may be represented and stored using graph structures including, for example, vertices, directed edges, undirected edges, and/or the like. Notably, the graph database may store the relationships between different data items explicitly. For instance, the vertices of a graph may correspond to the individual data items stored in the graph database while the edges of the graph may define the relationships between these data items. Attributes associated with the vertices and/or the edges may provide additional properties for the data items stored in the graph database and/or the relationships that exist between different data items.
By contrast, a relational database may store the relationships between different data items implicitly, for example, by organizing the data items into one or more database tables. Each database table may store a set of data items referred to as a relation. Furthermore, the rows of the database table may hold individual data items while the columns of the database table may hold the attributes that are present in each of the data items. Meanwhile, relationships between data items residing in different database tables may be implicitly defined by cross referencing the key that is associated with each data item in the relational database. For instance, a first database table may store the keys of data items from a second database table, thereby linking data items held in two separate database tables. Alternately and/or additionally, data items from the first database table and the second database table may be linked via a third database table storing the keys of data items from both the first database table and the second database table.